A Meeting, In Memory
by weatheredcreator
Summary: AJ was a regular girl, who met a regular boy on a school trip. A few years later, he's mega music star Justin Bieber and she looks on in awe. Find out how their story unfolds as they reconnect years later by pure chance.
1. Chapter 1

There is something exciting about road trips. Despite travelling with my school, a eight-hour bus ride with eight of my best friends wasn't something I was about to refuse. I had my iPod packed, a great book and a reserved seat next to the girl I've proudly called my best friend for over fifteen years. I was looking forward to sleeping, listening to music, reading, and having girl talk the whole ride to Stratford, Ontario.

I've known my best friend Shane since we were two years old. Her mom and my mom met at a daycare center while they were both pregnant with their second child, and looking for a place to keep their two-year old girls occupied. They soon found out that they lived four streets away from each other, and since then Shane and I have been inseparable. Same pre-school, same elementary school, and now same high school. I refused to go anywhere else than St. Matthew's High School for girls. I loved that it was a private school, I loved wearing the uniform, I loved seeing my best friend everyday. And now, I loved the idea of spending two nights with her and three other of my friends in a hotel room in Stratford during the Theatre Festival held there every year.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn in Stratford, Ontario at four o'clock in the afternoon. The eighty girls in my grade filed off the greyhound bus, grabbed their luggage and wiped the sleep from their eyes. We eagerly approached our teachers, who were to assign our rooms for the trip.

Along with Shane, I was also sharing a room with Jenny and Alice, two girls Shane and I have gotten to know and adore over our high school careers. Jenny was Italian, with darker skin and curly brown hair. She was of medium height, slim, and athletic. We called her the "mom" of the group - always looking out for us, the most responsible one. Alice was the shortest of the four of us, barely over five feet. She had died her hair an audacious red colour a few years ago. She had a pleasantly round face, a gorgeous smile, and a spunky personality to match. Shane had the features of the Irish; dark hair and pale skin. She was tall, and always made everyone laugh. She was the most friendly person I knew. She could light up a room. My name is Anna-Jane, but everyone calls me AJ. I'm tall, slim and blonde. I'm always positive and sympathetic, looking for a good time. Personally, I think the four of us were the best girls around.

I took our room key from our English teacher and made our way down the corridor to our rooms. After unpacking, our teachers gave us until dinner to walk around the town. It was a small, quaint neighbourhood with old-looking buildings and a friendly atmosphere. We decided to make our way to the corner store for some snacks and magazines to keep in our hotel room.

We made our way down the main road, giggling and chattering. Upon turning a corner, we saw a boy, about our age, sitting on the sidewalk with a guitar and singing.

"Hey, let's go check him out." Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me along towards him. The other girls followed.

His voice was like silk. It flowed softly from one note to another, with a powerful control and a maturity beyond his years. When he looked down to the neck of his guitar his chestnut hair fell into his eyes, only to be swept away by a quick, well-practiced flick of his head. I giggled. He was pretty cute.

We applauded after his song finished.

"Thanks. You guys here for the festival?" He asked. His voice was unexpectedly boyish, though with a deep undertone.

"Yeah, a seven-hour drive away." Jenny replied. He smiled.

"I love this time of year. I get to meet so many people just by sitting on the side of the street and playing my music."

"You're out here everyday?" I enquired.

"Yep. How else am I going to meet pretty girls like you?" I scoffed, giving him a half-smile. What a ladies man. "You girls want to hear another song? I wrote it myself."

"Sure." Shane said, and we became the audience to the boy sitting on the sidewalk in the small town of Stratford, Ontario.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The following day, we were schedule to see Cabaret. I was already familiar with the musical, and had been singing along to the risqué piece for a couple of years. To say I was excited to see it performed live was a grave understatement. Needless to say, the minute I stepped out of the theatre, I wanted to strip down into sexy lingerie and fan-kick all around Stratford. Alice, Shane, Jenny and I spent the entire walk back to the hotel singing Cabaret show tunes.

However, we didn't make it back to the hotel without first seeing if the cute street-performer was around again. Sure enough, there he was, sitting at the same spot on the sidewalk with his guitar. We shimmied our way over, singing all the while, and I did a quick double-turn once we were in front of him.

He laughed, "Hey! You guys look like you had a good time. If I ever need back-up dancers for a street show, I'll be sure to give you all a call."

We laughed, and asked him how business was today. "Oh," he said, "I don't actually play for money or anything. Sometimes a visitor will throw me a coin or two, but I honestly just do it for practice, and for the attention." He winked at me. Dear Lord, what a flirt. I wasn't going to let him have the upper hand, though. I flirted right back.

"Well I guess we don't need to stick around then. C'mon girls, let's leave the boy to his methods." The girls cackled and we turned in the direction of the hotel.

"Wait!" He called after us. "Where should I look if I need those back-up dancers?" Was he only looking at me? Seemed like it. I looked back at the girls. Alice gave me an encouraging nod.

"Holiday Inn. Room 110. Ground floor."

"Easy access." He smirked. I smiled and rolled my eyes. On our walk back to the hotel, I made sure to give my hips a little extra swing, just in case he was watching.

I was only half-surprised when I heard a knock on our window at nine that evening. I pulled back the curtain to see guitar boy giving me a mischievous half-smile. I looked back at the girls in the room. Alice was reading, Jenny was looking for something in her suitcase and Shane was in the shower.

"Be right back, guys." I told them. The window of the hotel was very large, and divided into four equal panes, two of which opened just enough for me to squeeze out. I smiled and said "Hey."

"Hey. My friends and I were hoping you and your friends would want to join us for a soccer game."

I looked over his shoulder to see three other guys standing behind him, one looking our way and the other two kicking a soccer ball back and forth.

"Yeah! I'll get them."

The rest of the girls climbed out after me and we tried to find the most secluded part of the hotel's property to play on without being seen by our chaperones. We only had two hours before teachers checked for lights out, but it was the most amazing two hours I've ever experienced. The soccer only lasted about thirty minutes. We ran around the field playing a scrimmage of boys against girls. Guitar boy was clearly chasing me the whole time, touching my waist and brushing my arm. Eventually I collapsed onto the grass and he fell right next to me.

"What's your name?" I asked him. "My friends and I have been calling you guitar boy since yesterday."

He chuckled. "It's Justin. What about you?"

"I'm AJ."

"AJ?"

"Anna-Jane. But please, I really don't like that name. AJ is much better."

"I like AJ."

Silence.

"When are you guys leaving?" He asked me.

"The day after tomorrow, in the morning. We're seeing two plays tomorrow."

"Do you want to come over, maybe? I live really close to where you've seen me play guitar. If you have some free time?"

I couldn't help smile to myself. Thank goodness it was dark out.

"Yeah, that sounds cool. Why don't you give me your number, and I'll text you if I have some free time?"

"Sweet."

No sooner had we swapped numbers that I noticed the time on the screen of my phone.

"Shit, it's 10:42. We should get going." I sat up and looked around for the others. They were all sitting together a few feet away. I called over, telling we should head back. I turned to Justin and gave him a wave before heading back to our hotel room.

Later that night I got a text message.

"Goodnight J"


End file.
